Fanhouse Newswire Posts

RICHMOND, Texas (AP) -- Lorena Ochoa and Jiyai Shin fought to the last hole for the LPGA's top player award.

By the slimmest of margins, Ochoa won -- and for the fourth straight year, too.

She finished two strokes behind tournament winner Anna Nordqvist at the LPGA Tour Championship on Monday. The 22-year-old's final-round 65 was good enough to beat Ochoa in the weather-shortened event at 13 under par on Monday.

Shin needed to finish seventh or better to win the LPGA player of the year award, but missed a birdie putt on the 18th hole that tied her for eighth and gave Ochoa a 160-159 victory in the standings.

(AP) -- Syracuse was so impressive in the 2K Sports Classic that it made one of the best entrances ever into The Associated Press' college basketball poll.

SEATTLE (AP) -- Robbie Russell scored in the seventh round of penalty kicks and underdog, overlooked Real Salt Lake beat the star-studded Los Angeles Galaxy 5-4 on penalties for its first Major League Soccer championship.

Real Salt Lake goalkeeper Nick Rimando made two saves during penalties, and league MVP Landon Donovan missed badly over the crossbar giving RSL a chance in the extra rounds. After Rimando smothered Edson Buddle's shot, Russell beat backup Los Angeles keeper Josh Saunders into the lower left corner to set off a wild celebration.

LONDON (AP) -- Roger Federer overcame an erratic forehand and Fernando Verdasco on Sunday, rallying to beat his Spanish opponent 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 in the round-robin stage of the ATP World Tour Finals.

The top-ranked Federer was broken only once -- in the opening game of the Group A match after double-faulting on the first point -- but he never looked dominating until late in the second set when he converted his first break point to even the score at one set apiece.

In the third set at the O2 Arena, Federer was back to his old self. He controlled play as usual, and gave Verdasco little chance to stay in the match.

"I was down a set, and only the second set was I able to sort of get the ball into play, find my range, find my rhythm," Federer said. "This is also when I started to feel like I had chances.

HOMESTEAD, Fla. (AP) -- Jimmie Johnson was chasing much more than a championship.

He was also chasing NASCAR history.

The most dominant driver of this decade won a record fourth consecutive championship Sunday night at Homestead-Miami Speedway, where he raced hard to finish fifth when 25th-place would have gotten the job done.

In doing so, Johnson joined Richard Petty (7), Dale Earnhardt (7) and teammate Jeff Gordon (4) as the only drivers to win more than three titles.

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The 2009 Football Championship Subdivision playoff schedule is set. The 2009 FCS playoff schedule is as follows:

First Round, November 28, 2009
South Dakota State (8-3) at (1) Montana (11-0)
Eastern Washington (8-3) at Stephen F. Austin (9-2)

South Carolina State (10-1) at Appalachian State (9-2)
Elon (9-2) at (4) Richmond (10-1)

Holy Cross (9-2) at (2) Villanova (10-1)
New Hampshire (9-2) at McNeese State (9-2)

Weber State (7-4) at William & Mary (9-2)
Eastern Illinois (8-3) at (3) Southern Illinois (10-1)

Complete FCS Playoff Schedule
Nov. 28, 2009 - First round FCS playoffs - location TBD (On Campus)
Dec. 5, 2009 - Quarterfinals FCS playoffs - location TBD (On Campus)
Dec. 11 and 12, 2009 - Semifinals FCS playoffs - location TBD (On Campus)
Dec. 18, 2009 - FCS championship game - Finley Stadium, Chattanooga, TN

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) -- Lee Westwood of England became Europe's No. 1 golfer on Sunday after winning the Dubai World Championship by six strokes.

Westwood shot a course-record 8-under 64 in the final round at the Earth Course to finish at 23-under 265.

He earned $1.25 million with the 31st victory of his career to overtake Rory McIlroy on the season-long money list and win the European Tour's first Race to Dubai since it changed from the European Order of Merit.

(Nov. 22) - The BCS standings for week 13 show the Florida Gators on top, followed by a group of five undefeated teams: Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State.

Florida has topped the BCS standings every week this season and will face Alabama for the SEC title in two weeks. The SEC heavyweights look to clear hurdles against in-state rivals Florida State and Auburn before the possible match-up of undefeated teams on Dec. 5.

BCS Standings - November 22, 2009
Rank	School	Record	Avg	Prev.
1	Florida	11-0	.9664	1
2	Alabama	11-0	.9614	2
3	Texas	11-0	.9263	3
4	TCU	11-0	.8699	4
5	Cincinnati	10-0	.8591	5
See Complete BCS Standings

(Nov. 22) - The BCS rankings for week 13 show the Florida Gators on top, followed by a group of five undefeated teams: Alabama, Texas, TCU, Cincinnati and Boise State.

Florida has topped the BCS rankings every week this season and will face Alabama for the SEC title in two weeks. The SEC heavyweights look to clear hurdles against in-state rivals Florida State and Auburn before the possible match-up of undefeated teams on Dec. 5.

BCS Rankings - November 22, 2009
Rank	School	Record	Avg	Prev.
1	Florida	11-0	.9664	1
2	Alabama	11-0	.9614	2
3	Texas	11-0	.9263	3
4	TCU	11-0	.8699	4
5	Cincinnati	10-0	.8591	5
See Complete BCS Rankings